A: Not quite. I still have a building in New York City called the Center for Specialty Care, at 50 East 69 Street, where they do surgery. My husband bought it in 1984. It was the first ambulatory surgery created in New York. It's still going strong. There are six operating rooms and 150 surgeons who operate there. It's a big, beautiful old house, built in 1914, and I have to keep it up to par. It fell into my lap when my husband died five years ago. I'm the landlord. I have to buy the equipment and supplies. But my daughter, Lucinda Hays, who's a lawyer and lives in London, really runs the place.

Q: What did you do when you worked full time?

A: I managed the Homestead Inn for 19 years. My husband and I bought it in the late 1970s when the hotel was going bankrupt. It took us a year and a half to bring it back. Lessie Davisson was my co-partner. She helped me. I had to hire a manager for the hotel's 23 bedrooms, a manager-chef for the dining room. We had a huge business.

Q: What was the most important thing you learned in your work?

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A: You have to have the ability to talk to people, to the staff, for them to have the ability to talk with you.

Q: What was a significant memory or defining moment in your childhood?

A: I remember the Sunday picnics at my grandmother's house on Long Island. And I remember vividly going to camp in New Hampshire.

Q: What are your main hobbies and interests?

A: Collecting American Redware in New England. It was made with red clay starting in the 1780s. It's what people used to cook with when they didn't have aluminum pans. All the families had it until they threw them out when aluminum came in.

Q: If you could tell the president of the United States one thing, what would it be?

A: Let's get going with health care. But even more important, we have to find jobs for the unemployed in our country.

Q: What achievements in your life are you most proud of?

A: I'm proud I got through college. I was not the strongest student, but I was enthusiastic. I graduated from Smith College in 1953, and took my junior year abroad in Florence. Next to marrying my husband, that was the best thing I did. And I can still speak Italian.

Q: If you had a magic wand, what would you wish for?

A: It has to be peace.

Q: What, if anything, are you deeply concerned about?

A: Actually, I'm very enthusiastic about the young people in our country.

Q: Best piece of advice to give to the younger generation?

A: Don't be afraid. Go for it.

Q: What brings you your greatest joy?

A: Absolutely, my grandchildren. No question, hearing about their escapades.

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: I just went on a fabulous sailing trip with my two daughters, Lucinda and Connie, on the west side of Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.